{"id":117926,"date":"2017-10-09T10:09:02","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T10:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vicd108.wordpress.com\/?p=9360"},"modified":"2017-10-09T10:09:02","modified_gmt":"2017-10-09T10:09:02","slug":"quantity-of-nama-japa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetiskcon.rupa.com\/index.php\/2017\/10\/quantity-of-nama-japa\/","title":{"rendered":"Quantity of N\u0101ma-Japa?"},"content":{"rendered":"

QUESTION: Why is nama-japa so highly stressed for bhaktas – even for the most beginning yogis?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

ISKCON (and most of its branches, I suppose) places this stress on doing a copious amount of n\u0101ma-japa<\/em> even from the beginning, but so far as I have seen, that is not traditional. Even in ISKCON, though, the greater stress is on n\u0101ma-k\u012brtan<\/em>\u00a0(which is\u00a0<\/em>in line with the traditional Gau\u1e0d\u012bya-Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava approach).<\/p>\n

The real ideal is to do n\u0101ma-k\u012brtan<\/em> and learn the bhakti-j\u00f1\u0101na<\/em> by studying G\u012bt\u0101 initially, and \u015ar\u012bmad Bh\u0101gavatam after that. Without the j\u00f1\u0101na from these sources, we only have sentiment to fuel our interest in Krishna bhakti. So, comprehending the essential points presented in G\u012bt\u0101 (and more elaborately in Bh\u0101gavatam) is absolutely essential for the beginner. K\u012brtan and japa are less important and fruitful then. Once G\u012bt\u0101 and Bh\u0101gavatam are well understood and internalized, k\u012brtan<\/em> and japa<\/em> become more fruitful and can be given more focus.<\/p>\n

Beginners should also be engaged in a significant amount of seva<\/em>, as a facsimile of karma-yoga<\/em>, to give some vent and outlet to our necessity for action.<\/p>\n

QUESTION: Can I safely conclude that the holy name is so potent in this age that it is still worth chanting and meditating on without steadiness of mind?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, but that doesn\u2019t mean that bad n\u0101ma-japa<\/em> is advisable or can be allowed to persist.<\/p>\n

I have known dozens and dozens and dozens of people, including myself, who chanted copious amounts of n\u0101ma-japa<\/em> for years without any significant progress. N\u0101ma-japa<\/em> should be done attentively and carefully. Period.<\/p>\n

As for the amount, that should be increased naturally as the taste for it increases.<\/p>\n

To even chant one m\u0101la<\/em> of attentive, careful n\u0101ma-japa<\/em> is immensely powerful (and significantly advanced – relative to our modern minds). Even to do ten mantras of very attentive, careful n\u0101ma-japa<\/em> is extremely powerful, more powerful than 64 rounds of inattentive japa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Some people have a different opinion here, but personally I haven\u2019t seen it work. The only one I\u2019ve really seen it work well with was the 24-hour k\u012brtaniy\u0101<\/em>, Aindra das of ISKCON V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana – but who can match his intensity of dedication and passion for Krishna? Very few if anyone at all. He was a very rare, unique bhakta – though he tried to present himself as a rank-and-file person.<\/p>\n

In my opinion, what I am suggesting is the safer path for the majority. And even in Aindra\u2019s case, you\u2019ll find he didn\u2019t “just chant.\u201d He dedicated immense amounts of effort to seva and study.<\/p>\n

In any case, we should note here that the 8th Anga of \u015ar\u012b R\u016bpa Goswami\u2019s advice for bhakti-s\u0101dhana<\/em> is “yavad\u00a0arth\u0101nuvartita<\/em>\u201d – to approach life (including s\u0101dhana) in a moderate, realistic, appropriate manner.<\/p>\n

QUESTION: Especially for those who aren\u2019t completely dedicated to the meditation (who still have a lot of karma-yoga\/worldly duties to perform), trying to meditate\/practice japa can sometimes feel like a constant battle. Do we just continue to \u2018bring our mind back to the mantra\u2019? What other things can be applied to make it more effective in this situation?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Disciplining the mind will never be a stroll amongst the roses. It will always be difficult. It\u2019s always going to be a battle, but that doesn\u2019t mean we should throw ourselves into battles we can win.<\/p>\n

For example, first become steady in being able to chant 10 mantras without distraction and with full attention to each syllable. That\u2019s a battle most people can win in some time with some effort, enthusiasm and dedication. Then advance to something more, like 24. If and when you can do that consistently, then try for a m\u0101la<\/em>. Once you can steadily do a complete m\u0101la<\/em>, say for example everyday for a week or a month at a stretch, you are really quite advanced already, and very likely ready to move onto more extensive meditation-based bhakti-s\u0101dhana<\/em>, without the need for significant activity and material considerations. Then you could start to consider the advanced advice about n\u0101ma-japa<\/em>, and doing it for significant amounts of time every day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tagged: Chanting<\/a>, Japa<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

QUESTION: Why is nama-japa so highly stressed for bhaktas – even for the most beginning yogis? ISKCON (and most of its branches, I suppose) places this stress on doing a copious amount of nāma-japa even from the beginning, but so far as I have seen, that is not traditional. Even in ISKCON, though, the greaterContinue reading “Quantity of Nāma-Japa?”<\/span><\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":560,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3KKcv-uG2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetiskcon.rupa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetiskcon.rupa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetiskcon.rupa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetiskcon.rupa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/560"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetiskcon.rupa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117926"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/planetiskcon.rupa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124060,"href":"https:\/\/planetiskcon.rupa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117926\/revisions\/124060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetiskcon.rupa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetiskcon.rupa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetiskcon.rupa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}